Little New-Yorkers Step by Step: Beekman Coach

Recently in our Little New-Yorkers program we have started to venture out of the children’s library into the museum. On the fourth floor in the Luce Center lies quite a majestic piece, the Beekman Family Coach. Coaches like this were very rare, super fancy and would only be used for special occasions. In December we took a closer look at this unusual mode of transport, one of only 3 surviving coaches from 18th-century America. It was made for the merchant James Beekman in 1771, managing to survive thanks to family members who carefully stored it until it was donated to the New-York Historical Society in 1911.

Perhaps you’ve taken a ride in one of the carriages in Central Park? These modern versions are great for getting around the park, but how else can we travel around a large city like New York? To help us answer this question we read the book Rush Hour by Christine Loomis. This story explores the different modes of transport that we may encounter on a busy day. We explore the daily routines of people from the moment they wake up with particular focus on how people travel to and from work. From taxi’s and subways to boats and airplanes.

It’s not everyday that you get to see a coach or even ride in one so for our craft project we made these beautiful paper replicas. Maybe you won’t be able to ride in it but a small doll can!

Little New-Yorkers is an interactive 45-minute story-time program for children ages 3-5 at the DiMenna Children’s History Museum (DCHM). We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 3:30 in the Barbara K. Lipman Children’s History Library. When the children arrive, they will be invited to play with historic toys, like wooden blocks, Jacob’s ladders, even George Washington and Abraham Lincoln plush dolls. After clean-up, we sing a Little New-Yorkers welcome song before reading the story of...Read More

By Shana Fung
To celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year, we’ll be hosting a variety of events—from paper cutting demonstrations, to martial arts and dance performances. Join us Thursday (the official start of the Lunar New Year) to see students of the National Dance Institute perform both traditional and modern dances inspired by their 2013—2014 curricular theme, “China!” While you're here, don't miss our on-going exhibition Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion,which explores the centuries-long history of trade and immigration between China...Read More

Here at Little New-Yorkers, July marks Madeline month. So far we’ve been introduced to the wonderful fearsome character and her nemesis Pepito. We have many exciting craft projects based on the illustrations in the book to create, including the wonderful iconic yellow hat complete with black ribbon. Last week we read Madeline and the Bad Hat, and took our inspiration from the books’ title to create a hat craft project. It was really important that...Read More